Agree w/ Craig - wife just sent me an email that a wedding we plan to attend (a niece that we not really that close) in early May had just been cancelled - now since this involved non-refundable airline tickets, we set up an alternate plan to spend some time in D.C. - I first said GREAT! But -

I'm a BIG fan of music, especially classical (have about 5K CDs - began in 1984) and belong to the Good-Music-Guide music forum - below is a new thread opened last night from the forum administrator, Rob - now going for 3 pages w/ a dozen of my fellow members (some 'old-timers') removing their avatars; however, Rob has kept his & one of the mods put a jester's head on his avatar of Haydn - Dave

Quote:

It has come to our attention that avatars are compromising forum security. The details can't be revealed fully yet, but it seems that the NSA has successfully infiltrated most avatars, and using spyware known as "SnoWdensia", are using them to spy on users posts. More worryingly, since avatars are kept within members' profile, they can have access to all profile information as well as personal messages.

Our recommendation is to remove your avatar, and put it in a specially created folder on your desktop called "Functional Online Obfuscatory Locker", or just use the initials. This directs your virus scanning program to scan the files within. Works or PC and Mac.

If you simply must use an avatar, GMG recommends the one attached. it has been scanned, certified spyware-free and will clearly demonstrate that you have taken the steps to ensure your forum safety.